Now that I’ve professed my love for the Kindle, it’s worth noting its significant handicap: the lack of a touchscreen. Damn Apple, they’ve made touch so intuitive that anything cursor-based nowadays feels downright primitive. Like working an Atari joystick. So I’ve got to give props to Barnes & Noble for their version of the e-reader, the nook touch. I think we could also be very happy together.
I’ve been pretty ambivalent about e-readers. I love beautiful books, and I’m firmly in the “printed word isn’t going anywhere” camp. But then Bossypants arrived. I heard Tina Fey on Fresh Air and I wanted her book immediately. Not 2-day shipping, not swing-by-the-bookstore this weekend, NOW. And I wanted it on a Kindle. Because I don’t really need a funny hardcover memoir on my shelves for all eternity. I want to read it once, and maybe flag that prayer for a daughter to come back to again later because it’s so freaking hilarious. So, yeah, I finally get it. Ebooks. Bring it.
I can’t believe I’m about to write this, but my last Splurge-day Thursday post before Christmas is… a Kindle. My husband and I spent weeks trying to decide what to get his parents this year, and it was simply the best thing for them. Their shelves (much like ours) can’t hold any more books, but they are voracious readers. I love books as objects, I love the printed page, and so do they. This’ll just be a nice add-on. That’s all.
I own neither a Kindle
While reading this NPR comparison of the two devices, I detoured into land of e-book covers. Jonathan Adler’s bold ampersand sheathes the Nook, while Etsy’s pretty much got the Kindle covered: check out this adorably bookish hardback case.
So help me out, dear readers; if I take the plunge, which e-reader should I get?
(ETA: for an interesting financial consideration of e-books vs the paper versions, click here.)
